GSK quietly settles another Zantac lawsuit in California

GSK has reached an out-of-court settlement in California on another lawsuit concerning its heartburn and stomach ulcer medicine Zantac.

The case initially planned to go to trial on 20 February but will now be dismissed, the company told shareholders in a short statement on Thursday. 

GSK, Britain’s second-largest pharmaceutical firm after AstraZeneca, said the settlement came from a ‘desire to avoid the distraction related to protracted litigation’. 

Last year, the business reached five settlements in California, one in June followed by four in October, over concerns that Zantac caused cancer because it contained the probable carcinogen NDMA.

GSK has not admitted liability in any case and promised to ‘continue to vigorously defend itself based on the facts and the science in all other Zantac cases.’

Although NDMA is present in low levels in water, researchers have discovered that the chemical can increase the risk of stomach and colorectal cancer when ingested in significant amounts.

Many retail giants, including Walgreens and Walmart, began withdrawing Zantac, once the world’s best-selling drug, from the shelves in 2019 due to cancer fears.

The following year, the US Food and Drug Administration pulled the medicine from the market after finding it produced high volumes of NDMA when exposed to heat.

Besides GSK, pharmaceutical businesses Sanofi, Haleon and Pfizer have been affected by the fallout over Zantac.

The announcement of GSK’s latest settlement comes a day after it reported revenues rose above £30billion last year on the back of demand for cancer drugs and new shingles vaccine Shingrix and respiratory syncytial virus treatment Arexvy.

As a result, adjusted operating profits increased by 12 per cent at constant exchange rates to £8.8billion.

For the current year, the FTSE 100 group expects turnover to rise by 5 to 7 per cent and adjusted earnings per share to expand by 6 to 9 per cent.

It also does not anticipate earning any sales or operating profits from Covid-19 vaccines.

GSK shares were 0.5 per cent higher at 1,575.6p on Thursday morning and have grown by around 11 per cent over the past 12 months.